Ho Chi Minh was a Vietnamese born to Nguyen Sinh Huy in 1890. From young, he was becoming a nationalist that would change the history of Vietnam. Nguyen taught his children to resist French rule and did not teach them the French language which resulted in the loss of his job. As he grew up he was educated and read Marx's writings in Paris. He was one of the founders for the French Communist Party. The French colony of Vietnam would arrest him if he was caught in Vietnam so he left to China's border and hatched a new plot. When the Japanese attacked, the French backed away while Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh retaliated.After World War 2 though, Japan loses and eventually Vietnam is given back to France. Backed by Communist Mao ZeDong in China, Ho Chi Minh sets up communist quarters in the north.When the French surrendered in their battle to regain the colony from the Vietminh, the Vietnamese War erupted with Ho Chi Minh against Ngo Dinh Diem in the south. When the U.S. started to interfere heavily with bombarding, Ho Chi Minh died in 1969 without seeing the end of the conflict.
Ideological Foundations
Ho Chi Minh's Ideology:
Ho Chi Minh's ideology consisted of the communist ideal of Marx and Lenin as well as Mao Ze Dong. He agreed that the communist idea rested on an educated leader that could lead his people but also emphasized on Mao Ze Dong's idea of the role of the peasants. He became the communist leader but he also advocated Confucian Humanism
to protect and understand the people while emphasizing the revolutionary potential of the peasants.
Opponents
1) South Vietnam: non-communist (Republic)
2) Americans: because they helped the south during the Vietnamese war.
3) Nguyen Van Thieu and Ngo Dinh Diem: South Vietnam's Presidents.
Primary Document
A letter written in France in December 26, 1920. This document shows the nationalistic ideals that Ho Chi Minh had and his efforts to convert the others into his cause.
"You all have known that French imperialism entered Indochina half a century ago. In its selfish interests, it conquered our country with bayonets. Since then we have not only been oppressed and exploited shamelessly, but also tortured and poisoned pitilessly. Plainly speaking, we have been poisoned with opium, alcohol, etc. I cannot, in some minutes, reveal all the atrocities inflicted on Indochina. Prisons outnumber schools and are always overcrowded with detainees. Natives are arrested and sometimes murdered without trial. Vietnamese are discriminated against. We have neither freedom of press nor freedom of speech. Even freedom of assembly and freedom of association do not exist. We have no right to live in other countries or to go abroad as tourists. We are forced to live in utter ignorance and obscurity because we have no right to study. In Indochina the colonialists find all ways and means to force us to smoke opium and drink alcohol to poison and beset us. Thousands of Vietnamese have been led to a slow death or massacred to protect other people's interests. Such is the treatment inflicted upon more that 20 million Vietnamese, that is more then half the population of France. And they are said to be under French protection! "
Table of Contents
Biography
Ho Chi Minh was a Vietnamese born to Nguyen Sinh Huy in 1890. From young, he was becoming a nationalist that would change the history of Vietnam. Nguyen taught his children to resist French rule and did not teach them the French language which resulted in the loss of his job. As he grew up he was educated and read Marx's writings in Paris. He was one of the founders for the French Communist Party. The French colony of Vietnam would arrest him if he was caught in Vietnam so he left to China's border and hatched a new plot. When the Japanese attacked, the French backed away while Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh retaliated.After World War 2 though, Japan loses and eventually Vietnam is given back to France. Backed by Communist Mao ZeDong in China, Ho Chi Minh sets up communist quarters in the north.When the French surrendered in their battle to regain the colony from the Vietminh, the Vietnamese War erupted with Ho Chi Minh against Ngo Dinh Diem in the south. When the U.S. started to interfere heavily with bombarding, Ho Chi Minh died in 1969 without seeing the end of the conflict.Ideological Foundations
Ho Chi Minh's Ideology:Ho Chi Minh's ideology consisted of the communist ideal of Marx and Lenin as well as Mao Ze Dong. He agreed that the communist idea rested on an educated leader that could lead his people but also emphasized on Mao Ze Dong's idea of the role of the peasants. He became the communist leader but he also advocated Confucian Humanism
to protect and understand the people while emphasizing the revolutionary potential of the peasants.
Opponents
1) South Vietnam: non-communist (Republic)2) Americans: because they helped the south during the Vietnamese war.
3) Nguyen Van Thieu and Ngo Dinh Diem: South Vietnam's Presidents.
Primary Document
A letter written in France in December 26, 1920. This document shows the nationalistic ideals that Ho Chi Minh had and his efforts to convert the others into his cause."You all have known that French imperialism entered Indochina half a century ago. In its selfish interests, it conquered our country with bayonets. Since then we have not only been oppressed and exploited shamelessly, but also tortured and poisoned pitilessly. Plainly speaking, we have been poisoned with opium, alcohol, etc. I cannot, in some minutes, reveal all the atrocities inflicted on Indochina. Prisons outnumber schools and are always overcrowded with detainees. Natives are arrested and sometimes murdered without trial. Vietnamese are discriminated against. We have neither freedom of press nor freedom of speech. Even freedom of assembly and freedom of association do not exist. We have no right to live in other countries or to go abroad as tourists. We are forced to live in utter ignorance and obscurity because we have no right to study. In Indochina the colonialists find all ways and means to force us to smoke opium and drink alcohol to poison and beset us. Thousands of Vietnamese have been led to a slow death or massacred to protect other people's interests. Such is the treatment inflicted upon more that 20 million Vietnamese, that is more then half the population of France. And they are said to be under French protection! "
Bibliography